Stepping Through The Darkness
by LotteSCF
Summary: Nearly a year after Buffy sent Angel to hell, she has all but given up. Fate gives her a second chance and sends her to another word, that of Harry Potter. There, she will take it upon herself to protect a certain couple, find herself again along the way, and eventually, find the love she thought she lost again. Please give this a chance and hopefully review and make my day, thanks
1. Prologue

**Stepping Through The Darkness**

 **Prologue**

She stumbled over the cracked pavement, barely holding onto consciousness. It was pitch dark and she struggled to see a thing, though she was normally very good at seeing through the darkness. Her hand pressed against her side, trying to stop the blood from flowing. She staggered into a disgusting, dirty, abandoned alleyway and sank down against the wall.

For a moment, she wondered why she was still fighting this, fighting her inevitable death. For months now, death had been all she longed for… but now, she struggled with it, yet didn't know the reason why.

Ever since that fateful day nearly 9 months ago, the day she had lost everything, including her heart and soul, she had wanted nothing more but to die. She had sought it out even. Finding the most menacing creatures she could locate, battling them to the death, coming out on top each time. Yet this time, the one day she hadn't sought anything out, the danger had found her, and while she had come out as victor yet again, she had also been gravely wounded. Wounded so badly, she doubted even her supernatural strength and healing abilities would be able to save her this time.

She had only recently turned 18, far too young to die like this, like discarded trash in some filthy alley. As much as she felt dead inside, as if someone had taken a spoon and hollowed her out completely, she realized she didn't want to die, at least, not like this.

Dying in the heat of battle, so quick she wouldn't have even noticed, would have been fine by her. But this just felt like some pathetic joke someone was playing on her. Or, perhaps, a bittersweet note of revenge for the ugly deed she had done on that darkened day.

A tear trailed down the cheek of the petite blonde, and just before she gave into to the all-consuming darkness that was dragging her under, she made a wish.

' _Take me away, far away, to a better place, somewhere I can feel again. That's all I want.'_

And for the first time in her life, Fate decided to grant this young woman, this protector of the world, her wish.

A bright light consumed the body of the now unconscious and dying girl, and as the light faded into the darkness, so did the girl, never to be seen in this world again.

And so it must be, and so it was written; the Chosen One, the Slayer known as Buffy Anne Summer, vanished from this plane of existence, to be taken to another world that needed her desperately, just as she would find she needed it as well.

 **TO BE CONTINUED SOON**


	2. Chapter 1: A New World

_**A/N: Hi all, back with a brand new chapter. This chapter mostly explains the way Harry and Hermione's lives at Hogwarts are at the moment (a hint, they're NOT good), because it is important to know for the story. It also shows the discovery of a certain blonde haired slayer to their world. And, it's also a LOT longer than the short prologue I posted before. I hope you like it, I'll update very soon, and please leave a comment to brighten my day.**_

 **Chapter 1: A New World**

Harry and Hermione were quietly walking on the grounds of Hogwarts, relishing in a moment of peace before they headed off to get some sleep (Professor McGonagall had, surprisingly, given them both papers that exempted them from school curfew, as long as they did not abuse that power).

Ever since Harry's name had come out of the Triwizard tournament cup, nearly the entire school had turned against him, half of the teachers included. And as Hermione was Harry's staunchest supporter, they had turned against her as well. And it didn't just end with the school; thanks to a nosy, scandalous reporter called Rita Skeeter and her slandering articles, most of the wizarding world itself had turned against the Boy-Who-Lived, calling him nothing more than a spoiled, attention seeking brat. But the worst was Ronald Weasley. Harry's supposedly best friend. Not only had Ron not believed Harry when he swore he had nothing to do with his name coming out of the cup, he had been one of the loudest voices of hatred against Harry ever since, turning many of the Gryffindors (who, at first, had been somewhat neutral), against Harry, and in turn, Hermione as well. Making their lives in the Gryffindor tower hell as well.

Three weeks had passed since his name had come out of the cup, and ever since, Harry and Hermione had barely had a moments peace. The only teachers who were still in their corner were Professor McGonagall, Hagrid, Dumbledore (though Harry was visibly upset at the old man for allowing this to continue, as was Hermione) and Professor Flitwick (oddly enough), who they had become rather close to in the past several weeks, and Madame Pomphrey, who seemed worried out of her mind of something happening to her, quote 'two favorite students in the school'. Though, none of them were able to stop the bullying.

For one, they didn't think Dumbledore even noticed it, as he seemed locked up in his tower when not encouraging Harry to study and prepare as hard as he could for the tournament and offering up his deepest regrets for this happening. As for the others, between one healer, three teachers and four houses, there was little they could do. Hagrid, Pomphrey, McGonagall and Flitwick tried to do their best to protect them, going as far as to grant them access to an abandoned classroom no one knew about to practice in, but it wasn't enough. If it weren't for the fact that Harry would lose his magic if he didn't compete in the tournament, both would have left the school and the Britain wizarding world behind by now, since they had quickly become disillusioned by it all.

Some people still seemed friendly to them, such as a blonde Ravenclaw, who they thought was named Luna something (but they weren't sure), who often smiled and waved at them in the corridors. Though, they had noticed she already seemed to have bullying problems of her own (which they had alerted Flitwick to), and didn't want to make it worse for her by actively befriending her at this point in time.

Besides Luna, Neville Longbottom was friendly to them whenever no one else was around, but ignored them when in public settings. They understood why; Neville was a shy, clumsy boy with little friends and trouble performing in school. It was obvious he was scared of facing the wrath of the school as well (Ron Weasley in particular).

Ginny Weasley and the twins, Fred and George Weasley, were some of their more active supporters. Helping them whenever someone tried to hex them or bully them, pranking those who did in return (Ron was the victim of their pranks on a daily basis now). But, it was harder for them because they were in other years than them, so didn't see them as much, even in the common room. But, they tried. Oddly enough, no one went against them for standing up for the duo, but they figured that was because no one wanted to face Ginny's famous bat bogey hex or the Weasley's infamous pranking (which they had taken up a notch this year).

Cedric Diggory, Victor Krum and Fleur Delacour were friendly towards the duo, and tried to help when they could. They had, firsthand, seen how terrified Harry had been the night of the name drawing after his name was chosen, and had quickly realized that Harry had not, in fact, put his own name in the cup. Cedric, on his part, seemed to be disgusted by the actions of his house, and seemed to spend most of his time now with the two older champions than with the Huffelpuffs, a fact the house in turn blamed for Harry as well. Victor and Fleur were disgusted by the display of the Hogwarts' students and teachers in general, and avoided the school whenever possible.

Still, despite the limited help they received, they were no match for nearly an entire school, and so, ended up in the infirmary often when they weren't hiding out in their private classroom. Even the library (once a sanctuary for Hermione), had become a place of torture.

Still, one good thing had come out of all this. Hermione and Harry's relationship had quickly changed, and they had grown closer with each passing day, until finally, about a week ago, Harry kissed Hermione, much to her delight as she had had feelings for him ever since he had saved her from that Troll in first year. However, as with every good, comes a bad, and their newfound relationship had only fueled the fire for Ron, who had somehow gotten it into his head that Hermione (despite everything he had done to her over the years) was going to be _his_ future wife. He was quickly dissuaded from that notion by Hermione's fist breaking his nose. But, it only served to worsen the abuse they received at the hands of their fellow schoolmates. For a moment, they had been worried about Ginny's reaction (who they knew had had a massive crush on Harry in the past) and that she would now turn against them as well. They needn't have worried, as she had only smiled, hugged them each and congratulated them, saying she had known they were meant for each other ever since the year before.

Despite Ron's behavior, as well as the rest of the school's, Harry in particular was very glad that not all the Weasley's had turned against them. Aside from Ginny and the twins, the Weasley matriarchs, Arthur and Molly, were also very supportive of them, and enraged with the behavior of their youngest son (who they now send Howlers to several times a day). Percy, however, was firmly in the Ministry's pocket, who were against Harry, so Percy was against them too. The eldest boys, Charlie and Bill (whom they had never met) had also send letters offering their support and help if needed, as well as their apologies for the aghast behavior of their youngest brother.

And so, they were here, walking the grounds, long past curfew, relishing in the moments where no one could hurt or try to hurt them, as no one besides them were exempt from curfew. Even the prefects and headboy and headgirl had to adhere to a certain curfew, and even if they came across them, they wouldn't dare actively hurt them, as they knew that it would lose them their badge (they had found out the hard way when two 6th year prefects who attacked them had immediately lost their badges, among other punishments). Though, sadly, no amount of punishments seemed to be enough to stop the abuse heaped upon them.

They held hands as they walked, occasionally sneaking a kiss here and there, watching the glittering stars in the sky. Harry was limping, though, still recovering from a rather heinous attack a few days ago (they had not been able to identify the attacker, it could have been anyone), and Hermione still had a few scratch marks on her face from another attack (that attacker had been identified as Draco Malfoy, but as usual, Snape, the evil git, had protected the blond ponce) that seemed resistant against magical healing, so they had to be healed the muggle way, which took more time.

They were talking about the tournament, wondering what the first task could be (it was five weeks away), thinking of any spells that could be useful against a dangerous creature (which was usually what was involved in the first task, according to their history readings). Surprisingly, Harry had begun to take his studies more seriously, and had even dropped Divinations and joined Hermione in her Ancient Runes and Arithmacy classes (with McGonagall's permission); he was behind, off course, but was there first and foremost to keep an eye on his girlfriend and protect her if need be. They spend all their time together (had even taken to sleeping on the couch in the common room), because being apart was just too dangerous.

Hermione was just explaining a charm to Harry when something very strange happened. A hot, white flash momentarily blinded their vision, causing them to have to shield their eyes. When the light faded, and they could finally see again, they looked around, wands at the ready, to find out what had caused the disturbance (for all they knew, this was part of another attack against them). What they found, however, shocked them.

A few steps away from where they were standing, they could see the form of a body on the ground. As they moved closer in the darkness, wands lighted, they saw more. The body was that of a petite, slender, yet muscled, young blonde girl. And this girl (small, but clearly older than them by a couple of years at least), was lying face down, a puddle of blood forming around her. They, very carefully and gently, turned her onto her back and gasped at what they saw.

The girl had a massive wound on her abdomen; it was so deep it had nearly eviscerated her. Hermione could tell, by the amount of blood she was losing and the shallow breathing, that they would never get her back into the castle in time to save her life.

"Harry, she won't make it without immediate help. I – I've read about a few healing spells, one that can even knit skin back together, but I've never actually performed them. If I do the spells, and I do them wrong, I could kill her instantly," She said. She sounded nervous, frazzled and scared. But she also sounded determined, aware that doing nothing would also kill this girl.

Harry took her hand in his, squeezing it softly, "I know you can do it, 'Mione. Do the spells."

Harry gave Hermione the confidence she needed, and with a deep breath to steady herself, began the incantations. The first spell she did seemed to reduce some of the damage done to the girl's abdomen, while the second spell started to knit some of the flesh back together, and the girl's breathing, which had been very shallow before, began to even out a bit. Hermione, however, seemed a bit perplexed.

"What is it, love? You did it," Harry said, smiling at her. Hermione frowned.

"She healed more than she should have, Harry, even with the help of my spells. I've read about these spells, they're good, but not this good." Hermione was puzzled, and when that happened, Harry knew she wouldn't stop until she figured it out, which she would, as she always did.

"Let's just get her back to the castle and to the hospital wing, so Madame Pomphrey can do the rest of the healing. I'm sure we'll figure out the rest, including who she is, later. If she's a former student, Madame Pomphrey is sure to recognize her." Hermione nodded, and cast a levitation charm to safely take the girl back. Indeed, she wasn't a current student, they would have recognized her. However, if she was a former student of only a year or two back, they should have recognized her as well, but Hermione had never seen this girl before, and from the look on Harry's face, neither had he, so she doubted the girl had ever been a student at this school.

As they arrived at the hospital wing, the wards tingled, waking Madame Pomphrey from her sleep almost instantly (she was immediately thinking Harry and/or Hermione had gotten hurt again, as happened several times before lately, causing her to lose more sleep than healthy). She rushed out of her chambers, through her office and into the hospital wing, wand at the ready for whatever needed to be healed this time. She was shocked, however, to find Harry and Hermione (both still recovering from attacks) placing an unconscious, half-healed, bleeding young girl on one of the hospital beds.

She asked what happened, and Hermione, taking the lead, explained it all, including the perplexity of how the healing spells had affected the girl. Madame Pomphrey immediately set about casting a full diagnostic scan (which would show every injury this girl had ever suffered from, as well as any injury, besides the obvious off course, she was now suffering from). As the diagnostic quill began to write everything down on parchment, which seemed to take a lot longer than in most normal cases, she cast another spell to check the stability of the girl's magical core. She was astounded at the results.

"This is impossible! According to my charm this girl has no magical core whatsoever!" Hermione let out a soft gasp of understanding at that, and Harry frowned. Madame Pomphrey, taking no notice, continued, "Even a squib would show some small sign of a magical core, but it is nonexistent within this girl. Whoever she is, she appears to be a muggle, which is also impossible, because a muggle would never be able to see, let alone enter Hogwarts because of the repelling wards. Not to mention that the manner of which she appeared seemed to be magical, which rules out her being a muggle. I can get no creature ratings from her either! Whoever or whatever she is, I have no idea!" She ranted, stunned beyond belief at what she discovered. She knew she would have to alert the Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress of this immediately, so she sent of two Patronus message charms, one to Dumbledore and one to McGonagall.

Hermione noticed the quill had finally stopped writing, the parchment was at least 9 pages long (even Harry would have a hard time matching that), and pointed it out to Madame Pomphrey, who, upon reading it, felt dizzy. Harry, concerned for the Matron, quickly helped her sit down on a bed, worried about her reactions.

"Are you alright?" He asked. She shook her head, frantically and shoved the parchment in his hands.

"Read this! It's impossible!" She all but shrieked, then set about working on the young girl's current injuries (severe internal bleeding, gaping flesh wound, a multitude of bruises, cuts and scratches on her entire body, a severe concussion. In clinical terms, the girl was a mess).

Meanwhile, as she worked on the girl, Harry and Hermione began to read the list. Among other things, it said she had DIED, actually DIED (drowning was the cause, according to the list), had puncture wounds on her neck from a sharp object (the list said it was a bite of some sort), stab wounds, broken ribs, concussions, contusions, bruises, broken limbs. You name it, this girl had seemingly had it. Hermione and Harry both wondered the same thing; who the bloody hell was this girl?

At that moment, a tired looking Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore entered the hospital wing. As Pomphrey was consumed with her work on the girl, Hermione and Harry explained all that happened, including Pomphrey's initial findings as well as showing them the list of the diagnostics charm. McGonagall was, as Pomphrey, astounded and perplexed, while Dumbledore was rubbing his beard, lost in thoughts.

Eventually, Madame Pomphrey came over, stating she had done all she was comfortable doing on someone without a magical core, and that, while the girl was stable-ish, she was still in dangerous waters health wise.

Dumbledore spoke, "Until we know the identity of this girl, I would request that you move her into one of the warded, private rooms, and watch over her until she wakes. Since it seems her health is still unstable at the moment, it would be best to have someone present at all times in case her condition deteriorates."

As he said this, Harry and Hermione both noticed the crestfallen look on Pomphrey's face. They knew her sleep lately was already disturbed because of their issues, and now because of Dumbledore's orders, she would have none at all. They looked at each other and nodded; they would help.

"Sir, could I offer another solution?" Harry asked. Dumbledore nodded, while McGonagall sighed with exasperation (it seemed she already had an idea of what his 'other solution' would be).

"Hermione and I could stay with her, take turns sleeping and keeping watch over her. We do it in the common room all the time, so it would be no different to do it here, and this way Madame Pomphrey can get some well-deserved sleep."

Pomphrey smiled at them, teary eyed for the offer of help as she really didn't think she could stay up all night, at least not without taking another pepper-up potion. McGonagall seemed both proud and saddened by Harry's suggestion and words. She had learned from the 'good' Weasley's (as she had dubbed Ginny and the twins) that Harry and Hermione had taken to sleeping in the common room, taking turns keeping watch in case someone tried to attack them. It frustrated, angered and saddened her that she couldn't be of more help to them. She had never been more ashamed of her house than she was now. Dumbledore, also, looked quite angry at hearing Harry's words, having been briefed on the situation by Minerva. He always saw the good in people, however, right now, there was little good to see in most of the students residing under his care. He was, however, very proud of these two Lions before him, and could see that not only would this help Poppy, but it would also give the two children a chance to relax without fear of being attacked in the middle of the night.

"I think that is a marvelous idea, my boy. I will leave the care of this girl in both your hands, and Madame Pomphrey's as well, off course. I am exempting you from all classes and meal periods while you perform these duties. If you need anything from your rooms or the library, feel free to ask a House Elf to fetch it for you, as I would not wish you to neglect your studies. When the girl wakes, we will revise the situation. However, I have a feeling that the two of you will be attached to her from quite some time," He said. And with that last, rather mysterious announcement, excused himself and McGonagall as they headed back to their chambers.

Madame Pomphrey moved the girl to a private, heavily warded room with two beds (one for the girl, and one for whoever slept while the other took watch; at least they'd sleep in a bed again for the first time in weeks, instead of a couch), and then excused herself while she went to bed. She'd explained, if they needed her for anything, to simply call for her House Elf, Pippy, who would in turn wake her.

Hermione turned to Harry and smiled, "Well, at least we'll have a few peaceful nights and days now." She sounded beyond relieved when she said that, a sentiment Harry felt as well. Yes, perhaps this mysterious girl would be a turning point in their lives, as Dumbledore had made it out to seem with his mysterious demeanor and comment. Harry suggested Hermione take the first sleeping shift and she gratefully accepted. He didn't tell her that he wouldn't be waking her for her shift this time, however. If they were going to be here several days, he might as well insure a good nights' sleep for his girlfriend – he could easily take a nap once she woke up in the morning.

Meanwhile, as Dumbledore sat in his office, he could almost feel the giddiness of the castle itself, and its anticipation. Whoever this mystery girl was, the castle seemed to accept her, rejoice her almost, and Dumbledore himself thought the tides were changing. "Yes, she'll be a very interesting addition to the school indeed," He mused, stroking his beard as Fawkes chirped, seemingly agreeing with that statement.

And as the girl, the Chosen One, the Slayer, Buffy Anne Summers, slept, she dreamed of better places and better things to come. She dreamed of her one true love, as she had every night for the past 9 months, but these dreams were much better, not plagued with nightmares at all. They seemed to be telling her to wait, wait for the tide to turn, wait for her love to return. And so she slept, unaware of all the changes that had occurred and would occur over the next several months.

 **TO BE CONTINUED**


End file.
